Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of Infrastructure Asia, a new government agency led by the Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
This agency will serve as a bridge for different industry players across the infrastructure ecosystem, multilateral development banks and the public sector. It is expected to be a one-stop platform for the information exchange and sharing of best practices in Asia, according to the Global Times (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1124190.shtml).
Executive director of Infrastructure Asia Tan Keng Hwee said that Singapore has specific advantages and experiences in several sections of infrastructure projects, and its solutions may better satisfy the specific needs of some Asian countries. “In that case, we can assist Chinese enterprises in the projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative,” he said.
Infrastructure Asia, he adds, also welcomes Chinese enterprises to be based in Singapore, to cooperate with the agency and use its platform to get access to more financing channels for infrastructure projects or to invest in the projects.
At the roundtable, the newly launched agency signed two MoUs with the World Bank Group and the Singapore Business Federation.
It is estimated that the infrastructure needs of Asia’s developing countries will reach USD26 trillion from 2016 to 2030, or USD1.7 trillion annually, according to a publication released by the Asian Development Bank in June 2018. — Construction+ Online
